Revision Notes Class 10th History: Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World
Important Dates
Important Dates to Remember
- 594 A.D. : Books in China were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of woodblocks.
- 768 - 770 A.D. : Hand printing technology was introduced in Japan.
- 868 A.D. : The first Japanese book ‘The Diamond Sutra’ was printed.
- 11th Century : Paper reached Europe from China.
- 1295 A.D. : Marco Polo brought the knowledge of producing books with woodblocks to Europe from China.
- 1448 A.D. : Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press.
- 1450-1550 A.D. : Printing presses set up in most countries of Europe.
- 1517 A.D. : Religious reformer Martin Luther printed ‘Ninety Five Theses’, criticizing many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church, starting the ‘Protestant Reformation’.
- 1558 A.D. : The Roman Church began maintaining an index of prohibited books.
- 1822 : Two Persian newspapers ‘Jam-i-Jahan Nama’ and ‘Shamsul Akbar’ were published.
- 1843 : Steam powered rotary printing press, suitable for printing newspapers was invented by Richard Hoe.
- 1878 : The Vernacular Press Act was passed in India.
- 1880s : Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai wrote about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women, especially widows.
- 1926 : Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein, an educationist and literary figure, strongly condemned men for withholding education from women.
Important Terms to Remember
Important Terms
- Calligraphy: Calligraphy is an ancient writing technique using flat edged pens to create artistic lettering using thick and thin lines depending on the direction of the stroke.
- Diamond Sutra: The oldest Japanese book printed in AD 868 containing six sheets of text and woodcut illustrations.
- Compositor: The person who composes the text for printing.
- Despotism: A system of governance in which absolute power is exercised by an individual, unregulated by legal and constitutional checks.
- Almanac: An almanac is an annual publication that includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other tabular data often arranged according to the calendar.
- Denominations: Sub-groups within a religion. For example, a Christian can be Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Protestant, etc.
- Anthology: A collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts.
- Galley: Metal frame in which types are laid and the text composed.
- Chapbooks: Pocket size books that were popular in the 16th century print revolution.
- Taverns: A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in most cases, where travellers receive lodging.
- Protestant Reformation: The religious revolution that took place in the Western church in the 16th century. Its greatest leaders undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John Calvin.
- Lithography: The process of printing from a smooth surface, viz., a metal plate that has been specially prepared so that ink only sticks to the design to be printed.
- Revolution: Cause to change fundamentally.
- Ulama: Legal scholars of Islam and the Sharia (a body of Islamic law).
- Vellum: A parchment made from the skin of animals.
- New Testament: The second part of the Bible that describes the life and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
- Scribes: Skilled hand writers of manuscripts.
- Platen: In letter press printing, platen is a board which is pressed onto the back of the paper to get the impression from the type. At one time it used to be a wooden board, later it was made of steel.
- Parchment: Skin of animals like goat or sheep, specially prepared for the purpose of writing, painting, etc.
- Manuscript: Book or document written by hand. It can also be termed as author’s original copy – handwritten or typed but not printed.
- Ballad: A historical account or folk tale in verse usually sung or recited.
- Autobiography: Story of one’s own life written by the author himself or herself.
- Inquisition: A judicial procedure and later an institution that was established by the papacy and, sometimes, by secular governments to combat heresy.
- Heretical: Beliefs which do not follow the accepted teachings of the Church.
- Satiety: The state of being fulfilled much beyond the point of satisfaction.
- Fatwa: A legal pronouncement of Islamic law usually given by a mufti (legal scholar) to clarify issues on which the law is uncertain.
- Seditions: Sedition is the illegal act of inciting people to resist or rebel against the government in power.
Print Culture and the Modern World
Summary
- The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea. This was a system of hand printing.
- Books in China were printed by rubbing paper against the inked surface of wooden blocks.
- China was the major producer of printed materials.
- The skilled craftsmen could duplicate, with remarkable accuracy, the different style of writing called calligraphy.
- Shanghai was the hub of the new print culture.
- The oldest printed book known is a Japanese Buddhist book, the Diamond Sutra printed in AD 868.
- In medieval Japan, poets and prose writers were regularly published and books were cheap and abundant.
- In the late 18th century, at Edo, illustrated collections of paintings depicted an elite urban culture.
- For centuries, silk and spices from China flowed into Europe through the silk route.
- In the 11th century, Chinese paper reached Europe through the silk route.
- Gutenberg, son of a merchant, mastered printing technique by 1448. First book he printed was the Bible. It took him 3 years to print 180 copies.
- One hundred eighty copies of this book were printed in three years.
- Printed books at first closely resembled the written manuscripts in appearance and layout.
- Luxury editions were still written by hand on very expensive ‘Vellum’ meant for aristocratic circles.
- The print revolution transformed the lives of people.
- In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther wrote ‘Ninety Five Theses’ criticising the Catholic Church.
- Printing helped to spread the new ideas of Reformation.
- The Roman Church imposed severe controls over publishers and booksellers.
- In England, penny chapbooks were carried, by petty peddlers known as chapmen sold for a penny.
- In France, small chapbooks called the ‘Biliotheque Bleue’ were sold at low-price.
- The periodical press, newspapers and journals carried information about wars and trade, as well as news of development in other places.
- The ideas and writings of the scientists like Isaac Newton, Thomas Paine, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau were printed and read.
- The French Revolution occurred as printing helped the spread of ideas.
- Primary education became compulsory from the late 19th century; children became an important category of readers.
- A children’s press, devoted to literature for children was set up in France in 1857.
- Penny magazines were specially meant for women.
- The best known novelists were Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters and George Eliot.
- In the 19th century, libraries in England became instruments for educating the factory workers, artisans and lower middle-class people.
- Self-educated working class people wrote political tracts and autobiographies.
- By the late 18th century, the press came to be made out of metal.
- Richard M. Hoe of New York made the power driven cylindrical press, which was capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour. This press was used for printing newspapers.
- In the late 19th century, the offset press was developed.
- In 1930s, publishers brought out cheap paperback editions.
- Printers and publishers continuously developed new strategies to sell their product. In the 1920s in England, popular works were sold in cheap series, called the Shilling series.
- India had a very rich and old tradition of hand written manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian as well as in various vernacular languages.
- In India, manuscripts were copied on palm leaves and on hand made paper.
- In 1710, Dutch missionaries had printed 32 Tamil texts.
- From 1780, James August Hickey began to edit the ‘Bengal Gazette’, a weekly magazine.
- By the close of the 18th century, printing of many newspapers and journals started.
- In the early 19th century, there were intense debates around existing religious issues.
- Some groups wanted reforms, while others were against them.
- This was a time of intense controversies between social and religious reforms.
- The reformers were focused on the Hindu orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatry.
- Many newspapers such as “Sambad Kaumudi” in 1821 (by Ram Mohan Roy) “Samachar Chandrika” (Hindu Orthodoxy), “Jam-i-Jahan Nama” and “Shamsul Akbar” from 1822 Persian newspaper) focused on this matter.
- In North India, the ‘Ulama’ used lithographic presses, published Persian and Urdu translation of Holy Scriptures, and printed religious newspapers and tracts to spread their religion.
- In 1867, Deoband seminary was founded which published thousands of ‘Fatwas’ telling the code of conduct of Muslims and explaining the meanings of doctrines.
- Print encouraged the reading of religious texts, especially in the vernacular languages.
- The first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas came out from Calcutta in 1810.
- Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay published numerous religious texts in vernaculars.
- At the end of the 19th century, a new visual culture was started.
Painters like Raja Ravi Verma produced images for mass circulation. - Cheap prints and calendars were easily available in the market.
- By the 1870’s, caricatures and cartoons were being published in journals and newspapers.
- In 1860, few Bengali women like Kailashbashini Debi wrote books highlighting the experiences of women.
- Hindi printing began from the 1870s.
- In Punjab, folk literature was printed from the early 20th century.
- In Bengal, the Battala was devoted to the printings of popular books; peddlers took the Battala publications to homes, enabling women to read in leisure time.
- Public libraries were set up in the early 20th century.
- Local protest movements created a lot of popular journals.
- After the revolt of 1857, the attitude to freedom of the press changed.
- In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed.
- In 1907, Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote with great sympathy about Punjab revolution in his “Kesari”. This led to his imprisonment in 1908.
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